<p>beatlemania, you are dumping your own stress and anxiety on all the well meaning CC members who have generously attempted to help you out of your quandary by offering assessments/evaluations/anecdotes/personal experiences/strategies and offers of private communication. I can see how you would find this offensive. ???</p>
<p>The not so hidden fact is that NO ONE can give you the magic bullet you seek, because <em>you</em> are it. There are no more facts about the two schools that you need. You need to figure out which school you prefer. That’s your preference not anyone elses. No one here knows you and therefore no one could even guess at where you feel more at home. </p>
<p>If you have visited each school twice and really have no clear preference (or cannot access it) then it does not matter where you apply. I totally agree with the poster who said, in effect, flip a coin.</p>
<p>One of my D’s fell in love with Grinnell on paper when it was described as “a cornfield full of hyper-caffeinated geniuses”. Whether she will love it in person remains to be seen ( she is only a junior). My senior who is doing a series of fly-ins to NESCAC schools plus Carleton and Pomona has no trouble changing her impression of each school once she’s visited the campus, and it doesn’t have to do with stuff you can list or even identify. So far, she loves Williams despite the dark dorms with tiny rooms (esp compared to cushy dorms at Amherst and Bowdoin) – why? “I don’t know Mom, I just love it, I just feel really happy there.” All else being equal where do you feel comfortable, happy and inspired?</p>
<p>Only you can say where you feel that way.</p>